The Island of the Immortal Children
by The Illusion of Time
Summary: Another Language Arts project. Also the result of listening to "Kagome, Kagome" while working on said project.


Another Language Arts project. This time, we were told to write a new episode for Homer's epic, _The Odessey_. This is the result of my efforts.

And yes, I WAS listening to "Kagome, Kagome"(the vocaloids song) while writing this.

I do not own Odysseus or the Odessey.

* * *

"Island of the Immortal Children"

Alas, what poor fortune had we that the winds should blow us to that forsaken island known as Paidiá, the island of the Immortal Children. For it is from that island few have ever returned to tell the tale, and the few that have had none that boded well.

But we were helpless to do otherwise; the storms that had forced us to this island had damaged our ships, and to make them seaworthy once more would take several days, maybe even weeks. And though I had warned my crewmen- who had no clue of the danger we were in- to stay away from the locals, I had no hope that such a warning would be heeded.

They came on the second day, the inhabitants of the island. I had prepared myself, yet I was still surprised as my crewmen when I saw them.

Children, none older than the age of sixteen years, had come to greet us, smiling, laughing, and bearing gifts of fruit and flowers. Their leader seemed to be a girl of fifteen years, with long hair the color of the waves that washed over the white sand of the island's beaches. She introduced herself to me as Méllon, and said they would offer any assistance needed in the repairing of the ships. I politely refused and responded with my own message that we would be gone within a few days. At this she laughed- a sound like the tinkling of a thousand silver bells- and said we shouldn't feel rushed; the children hadn't had any visitors in so long, and they'd love to have some new friends to play with. But she did not try to push the issue, and she and the others left shortly before the noon meal.

They did not stay away long.

As night fell, they returned to us, and asked us if we would like to accompany them to their settlement in the woods for a celebration. My curiosity over took me here, and I selected a group of three other trustworthy crewmen, and we went with them to their village.

There we feasted on the fruits and plants of the forest- when asked why there was no meat, the children only laughed at us- and we listened as the children sang for us, beautiful songs telling of life on the island, and stories that had been passed from generation to generation, about the gods and life off the island. Méllon herself sang for us, and so did two children named Dexiá and Aristerá. Their performance received much applause from the others, suggesting that they were the leaders of the children, and they had been selected as such for their singing talent.

However, as it drew near the second watch, it came time for us to leave. The children were reluctant to go, as were my crewmen; in the end, I was only able to convince one of my sailors to accompany me back, while Méllon set up lodging for the other two and promised she would have them return to the beach by morning. She also sent one of the children, named Myro̱diá, back with us as collateral for if my crewmen were never returned.

Of course, in the morning, the child and the guard who had been watching her were both missing, and my crewmen had not returned. Méllon expressed shock at this, stating they had sent the crewmen on their way as soon as the sun had risen, and that Myro̱diá wouldn't have killed anyone to escape- to shed blood was against their principles. She expressed her sincerest apologies, and renewed her offer to help with the repairs on the ships. Once again, I refused.

The next night, two more crewmen disappeared. When confronted, Méllon seemed offended, and stated if we were going to begin blaming her and the innocent children she presided over, we should hasten our repairs, and leave the island as soon as possible.

This only increased my suspicions.

The next night, I stayed awake. I kept watch from a hidden den carefully built in dune and made from driftwood. I began to doze near the third watch; it was the laughter of children that alerted me to the presence of the island's natives.

It was the twins who had sung for us on that first night, and with them were another two of my crewmen. I waited for them to pass, and then followed, wondering what they could've said to make my men to go with them.

They went deep into the forest, past where I knew their village lay, and to a clearing where the moon shown down bright upon the earth. In this clearing were children I recognized from the village- nine of them, not counting the twins who had just arrived with my crewmen. They had been sitting among the grass and night lilies talking quietly until the twins arrived, then they all leapt up and began singing and laughing, saying, "Game time, game time! Let's play a game! What game do you want to play?" They grabbed my crewmen's hands, spinning with them in wild childish abandon, singing and laughing. My crewmen seemed to be in a trance-like state, smiling and making no attempt to throw the children off, their eyes blank and flat.

And then, quite suddenly, all frivolity stopped. The children had formed a circle, hands linked. My crewmen were a part of this circle, and at the center, blindfolded, was Méllon. They stood like that for a few moments more, silent. And then, they began to sing.

"Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when will you come out?  
In the evening of the dawn,  
the crane and turtle slipped.  
Who stands right behind you now?"

They sang this once, circling around the blue-haired girl, and then stopped. The solemnity with which this was carried out frightened me somewhat, yet I was helpless to do anything as the girl declared one of my crewmen to be the one standing behind her, and the other children cheered, proclaiming her winner of the game, and pushing the named crewman to the center, where he was blindfolded.

Then, the process was repeated, but I could sense something different. The solemn looks on the children's faces had been replaced with looks of wanton glee, and they tightened the circle around the crewman. In this process, the second crewman was forced out of the circle, where he sat in the grass, gazing dreamily up at the star-filled sky.

This time, they sang the song twice, reversing the direction they circled in the second time. When they stopped, I could hear them saying to my crewman, "Who's behind you? Who's behind you?"

Before he even spoke, I knew the crewman would guess wrong, and the children probably knew as well. For he did guess wrong, and the children laughed, whispering, "Oh, wrong, you lose, you lose!"

Then, whatever spell was on him was broken, and I could hear his screams as the children closed in on him.

At this point, I also felt hands wrap around my throat, and heard the soft voice of a child murmuring, "Oh, Odysseus, can you not stay out of the affairs of others for more than a moment?"

Everything went black.

The next day, I found myself in my quarters on my ship. All repairs on the ships had been finished, much to the crew's confusion. But none asked any questions when I ordered our immediate departure, and we set off to find bluer seas.

* * *

I am way too happy with this...It's not as good as it could be, though.-shrugs- It should get me a halfway-decent grade.


End file.
